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Posts Tagged ‘perfection’

Untouched, unsullied, undefeated!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Ashley Menges teamed with Lauren Rose Saturday to set up their teammates for a non-stop barrage of kills. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

   Coupeville won all 27 sets it played this season against its 1A Olympic League rivals. (Photo courtesy Cory Whitmore)

They would not be denied this time.

A year ago, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad was nearly perfect in league play, finishing 8-1, with just a loss to Klahowya slightly marring the record.

Saturday, the Wolf spikers achieved perfection, crushing host Port Townsend in straight sets to not only finish 9-0 in conference action, but a flawless 27-0 in sets played.

The 25-10, 25-10, 25-20 drubbing of the RedHawks lifts Coupeville to 12-2 overall heading into the postseason, and the back-to-back Olympic League champs are just one win shy of the program record for victories in a season.

They can tie the 2004 squad by achieving what no Wolf volleyball team has done since that squad — punch their ticket to the state tourney.

To do so, Coupeville needs to win at least one out of two matches at districts Nov. 4 in Tacoma.

But that’s a week away, and, on this Saturday, it’s all about the celebration of finishing off the regular season in style.

“I’m pleased with where we are at and very proud of finishing league play strong,” CHS coach Cory Whitmore said. “I’m so happy for these girls and their hard work paying off in spades.

“Now we push into playoffs and try to play a couple more weeks.”

Coupeville didn’t want to look past Port Townsend, which upset Klahowya last week and is always a scrappy foe.

“I was really happy with our focus and execution in the first two sets especially,” Whitmore said. “Lauren (Rose) and Ashley (Menges) did a great job of distributing the offense and our passing was very strong, allowing us to utilize our middles.

“In set three we mixed things us a bit, getting everyone involved, which took us a minute to settle into, but then when we did, our offense could take over.”

Katrina McGranahan paced that offense, ripping off eight kills, while Mikayla Elfrank (6) and Emma Smith (5) backed her up.

Hope Lodell (12) and Kyla Briscoe (5) spent a good part of their afternoon scraping digs off the floor, with Rose and Payton Aparicio dropping five aces apiece from the service stripe.

JV roars to another win:

Coupeville’s young guns wrapped up their own undefeated romp through league play, pasting Port Townsend in straight sets.

First-year JV coach Chris Smith led his squad to a 12-1 record overall, 9-0 in conference action.

Add in the C-Team (4-0, 3-0), which had the day off, and Wolf volleyball is 28-3 overall, 21-0 in league play this season.

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“I like the balance!!”

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Payton Aparicio and Coupeville volleyball are flying high. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The final play of the match Wednesday told you everything you needed to know.

A Klahowya server launched the ball skyward, smacked the orb, then watched as it nestled into the net and flopped back on her side of the court.

Game, set, match and the air has completely gone out of the Eagles.

If you were naive enough to doubt the 1A Olympic League firmly belongs to the Coupeville High School volleyball program, then, I have a bridge to sell you, kid.

The Wolves have rolled through conference play, notching a second-straight league crown, and they have done it without dropping a set.

Flying high after a 25-15, 25-15, 25-19 dismantling of Klahowya, Coupeville is 8-0 in league (24-0 in sets played), 11-2 overall.

With one regular season match left, a trip to Port Townsend (2-5, 4-10) Saturday, the Wolves are chasing nothing short of perfection.

Though don’t tell them that, as, having tied last year’s team for wins, they have their eyes on bigger targets.

Districts are Nov. 4 in Tacoma, and CHS will need one win in two matches to earn the program’s first trip to state since 2004.

That team, coached by spiker guru Toni Crebbin, holds the program record with 13 wins in a season.

This year’s Wolf squad went out and methodically drilled Klahowya, then took time to honor its splendid seniors, seven players who form the core of a reborn program.

Katrina McGranahan, Hope Lodell, Kyla Briscoe, Allison Wenzel, Lauren Rose, Mikayla Elfrank and Payton Aparicio have played two seasons for coach Cory Whitmore and they have been two of the best seasons the Wolf spikers have ever enjoyed.

Coupeville is 16-1 in league play during his tenure, with the only slight mar a loss to Klahowya last season.

This year, it’s been all-Wolves, all-the-time, and nothing changed Wednesday night.

The largest deficit CHS faced at any moment was two points, and that was erased in a heartbeat by a couple of thunderous Wolf spikes which left divots in the floor and shredded the psyche of the Eagles.

After exchanging points to open the match, Coupeville surged when Lodell made her first trip to the service stripe.

“The Surgeon” sliced a few arms and legs off with a pair of back-to-back aces, then Aparicio and Elfrank painted the back line with wicked winners from the net and the rout was officially on.

While she’s only a superb sophomore, Scout Smith was more than willing to crash the party on Senior Night, and she drove the Eagles batty with her picture-perfect tips.

At one point in the first set, she rattled off three winners in a five-point run, gliding through the air, waiting for the defense to come to her, then angling the ball away from them with the tips of her deadly fingers.

If Klahowya had any thoughts of crowding the net, that quickly vanished as Briscoe pounded a nuclear strike off of an Eagle leg on a play set up by a spectacular last-second poke from Elfrank.

The Wolves were in total control, taking what was given them and exploiting every opportunity.

Elfrank, McGranahan and junior Emma Smith shut down any activity at the net, rising above it to quickly muffle any attacks from the Eagles.

Take a look at my notebook and you see a string of words like “massive hit” (Elfrank), “nasty ace” (Briscoe), “sliced off her kneecaps” (Aparicio) or, simply, “Hulk smash” (Emma Smith) and the picture paints itself.

When Klahowya could rally, the Wolves fought until they found an opening for a winner. But, many, many more times, Coupeville simply put the hammer down.

Which is exactly what Whitmore wants to see as his team heads towards its postseason run.

That the production is team-wide? Even better.

“I like the balance,” he said. “It was a good all-around effort. I get excited seeing our defense transition into offense, from a dig to a set to a put-away.

“I’m really happy with how we are playing.”

CHS spread out its stat sheet excellence, with Briscoe and Aparicio leading the attack with six kills apiece. Elfrank (5), Emma Smith (5) and Scout Smith (4) followed closely on their heels.

Aparicio added 10 digs and five aces, while Lodell (eight digs), Wenzel (7) and Briscoe (7) shared the load when it came time to go low and scrape the ball off the floor.

McGranahan and Ashley Menges tossed in three aces apiece, while Coupeville scored 39 points off of its serves.

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Perfection!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Wolf gunner Kailey Kellner tries out her Senior Night present from her teammates. (Amy King photo)

Wolf gunner Kailey Kellner tries out her Senior Night present from her teammates. (Amy King photos)

27-0 in Olympic League play.

27-0 in Olympic League play.

This is no small thing.

For three years, night in and night out, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball program has overcome every obstacle, found a winning formula and set a standard of the highest order.

Using a brutally-efficient run in the second quarter to bust things open Saturday night, the Wolves bounced Port Townsend 41-31 on Senior Night to put a cap (for now) on the best run the 1A Olympic League has seen in any sport.

With the win, Coupeville heads into the postseason at 15-4, having finished off a third-consecutive 9-0 season in league play.

Their 27-0 mark in league games dwarfs Klahowya girls (20-0) and boys soccer (12-0) and Coupeville girls tennis (11-0) among the four varsity programs which have never fallen since the league debuted in 2014.

The Wolves will have 10 days off, before hitting the road to open the district playoffs.

Coupeville travels to Bellarmine Prep High School Feb. 14 to face a yet-to-be-determined foe. Win or lose, they head right back Feb. 16 and (possibly) Feb. 18.

They need two playoff wins to return to the state tourney.

To see their path, pop over to:

http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2187&sport=12

The regular season finale wasn’t a complete romp, as Port Townsend came out aggressively in the first quarter, building an 8-5 lead.

Coupeville responded by inserting junior fireball Mikayla Elfrank into the lineup, and things took a quick turn in favor of the Wolves.

She made an immediate impact, draining a three-ball from the top of the arc on her first trip down the floor, then added a runner off of a beautiful set-up pass from Mia Littlejohn.

With the game tied at 10-10 at the first break, Elfrank grabbed a quick swig of water, then broke the game open with one wild play.

Shooting the gap between two RedHawks, she went airborne, speared a pass on the second quarter’s first play and beat the pack all the way to the other end for a layup that meant far more than just two points.

Port Townsend looked like they had been rocked on the play, and they didn’t recover, as the Wolf defense ramped up the pressure.

A three-ball from Kalia Littlejohn, after a back-and-forth with teammate Kailey Kellner bought her shooting room, followed by another trey off of Elfrank’s fingertips and the Wolves were on a 16-2 tear.

Coupeville hit five three-point bombs in the first half, with Kellner’s second one set up by another superb pass from Mia Littlejohn, who was electric while running the point.

She had a season-high seven assists, but would have topped double figures if her teammates hadn’t been a bit cold with their shooting touch in the early going.

Mia Littlejohn sliced ‘n diced her way through the RedHawk defense all night, putting the ball into the hands of Tiffany Briscoe, Lindsey Roberts and Co. with panache.

When Mia wasn’t threading the needle, lil’ sis Kalia was emulating her, firing a wicked dish over the top of the crowd to a cutting Kellner for a key third-quarter bucket.

Once Coupeville stretched the lead to double digits, it held it there almost without fail.

The RedHawks cut the deficit to eight for half a second near the end of the third quarter, only to have Coupeville score on the next three plays to stretch things back out.

Along with their stingy defense, which included holding Port Townsend gunner Kaitlyn Meek to a measly 10 points, the Wolves hit the boards like wild animals.

Almost every time the ball skipped off the rim, the first thing you saw was the long, graceful arms of Roberts reaching up to the heavens to snatch the ball.

The sophomore sensation finished with a game-high 13 boards, eight of those on the offensive glass.

She had help, too, as Elfrank snatched nine caroms and Kellner made off with five. Coupeville had 35 rebounds, 20 of those coming off of their own missed shots.

CHS spread out its offense, with Elfrank and Kellner hitting for 11 apiece. Roberts (7), Mia Littlejohn (5), Briscoe (4) and Kalia Littlejohn (3) also connected.

It was the final home game for seniors Briscoe, Kellner, Lauren Grove (who pilfered four steals while harassing Meek) and manager Skyler Lawrence.

Before the game started, Wolf JV star Nicole Lester delivered a soaring rendition of the national anthem that earned a well-deserved round of applause.

JV left stranded:

For the fourth and final time this season, a league foe cancelled on the Wolf young guns, bringing their season to a close at 11-3 overall, 5-0 in conference play.

Both Port Townsend and Chimacum bailed on two of three scheduled JV games this season due to trouble keeping a full roster.

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Tickle the twines (or not)!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The worst (and best) free-throw shooting nights CHS boys hoops coach Randy King witnessed during 20 seasons.

   The best (and worst) free-throw shooting nights Coupeville High School boys’ hoops coach Randy King witnessed during 20 seasons.

Free throws are the greatest mystery in the history of basketball.

Conventional wisdom (and hyperventilating coaches) will always tell you the team which shoots freebies best will triumph. But, that’s not always true.

Case in point, compare the 2002-2003 Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad versus the 1994-1995 team.

Why those two?

Because, as I’ve gone through the 18 existing score-books from Randy King’s 20-year run as Wolf head coach (1991-2011), those two teams stand out for having the two most distinctive single-game free-throw shooting performances.

One team drilled all 22 shots they took in a game (only two other teams in the King era had a 100% night, and those squads shot just two and four charity shots those games), while the other went an ungodly 9-35 (26%).

But guess what?

Both teams won on those nights, even if one game probably gave Coupeville’s coach a nervous twitch.

And, while the ’02-’03 team were far better shooters — making 68% of their free-throws as a team for the season, compared to a paltry 54% from their rivals in this exercise — the ’94-’95 team actually won two more games.

As we look at those two games that jump out of the score-books all these years later, let’s get the bad out of the way first.

The night was Dec. 3, 1994, and Coupeville eked out a 71-67 win at home against Concrete.

Brad Miller banged away for 23, while Gabe McMurray hit for 17 in a close game where the Wolves led by three after one, three at the half, just two after three and four at the final buzzer.

With the game so close, their ice-cold shooting at the line (Coupeville was 2-12 in the second quarter and clanked 10 attempts down the stretch in the fourth) should have hurt them.

Helping out a bit was Concrete’s own inability to get anything started at the line, where the Lions went 7-15.

So, that means both coaches and the gathered fans got to watch 34 of 50 free throws clank off the iron.

Somewhere Rick Barry cried that night.

The second memorable night came on Jan. 3, 2003. The Wolves were on the road at Friday Harbor and this time free throws made all the difference.

Like the other game, it was a close one, with CHS clinging to a one-point lead after one quarter and at halftime.

Friday Harbor clamped down in the third, using a 15-6 run to recapture the lead at 42-36 with eight minutes to play.

At that point, the Wolves were flawless at the line, but just a modest 7-7.

Casey Clark had hit three, while Mike Bagby and Brian Fakkema were 2-2.

The fourth quarter was a master class on tickling the twines, however, as Coupeville threw down 27 points — 15 from the line — to snatch a 63-58 victory from the jaws of defeat.

Clark went off for 13 of his team-high 22 in the final eight minutes, hitting all eight of his free-throws, while Brad Sherman tossed in nine of his 21 at the same time, topped by a 7-7 streak at the line.

The 11-11 performance from Clark, who shot 85% from the line that season (60-71), is the only time a Wolf hit double digits in made free throws in one game during King’s reign.

The four guys who teamed up for the 22-22 night had wildly different success ratios in other games that season.

Sherman knocked down 76% (53-70), while Fakkema nailed 67% (37-55). Bagby, who was just a freshman, was the wild card, hitting 56% that year (25-45).

At the time, the Wolf coach marveled at his team’s performance, though in his own patented, low-key way.

“That’s a pretty good performance,” King was quoted in the Whidbey News-Times.

If only every night was that good, I know a lot of coaches who would sleep better.

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